The following was written many years
ago when I lived in town and was doing companion animal rescue...

So you want to get a dog?
Do you already have a dog?Here is my advice to you:

The short version:

1. Keep your dog inside.2. Keep him in a crate when you're
not home.3. Keep him on a leash when you
are home, until he's trained.4. Give him lots of exercise and
training.5. Let him sleep in the bedroom
with you.6. Take him with you as much as
you can.

The long version:

Congratulations on your decision!
Dogs are wonderful. I have three of my own dogs and they are the
light of my life. They are not perfect dogs, but then again, no dog
is perfect. Two of them were even given up by their previous owners.
With me, they manage to live a happy, active, stimulating life and they
manage to avoid getting into trouble--not because they are perfect, but
because I have given them some training and I have set up my house and
my life for their success. You can do this too, and you should think
about it before you get a dog so you'll be ready.

At my local pound, most dogs are given
up because they are too rambunctious, jump too much, bark too much or dig
up their yard. My dogs would do that stuff too if I didn't orchestrate
their environment to prevent it! The thing to remember about dogs
is this: Dogs are pack animals. That means they want to be with their
pack. They look up to their human pack leaders and they feel insecure
when their leaders are not with them. Do we want dogs to be like
that? Yes! Otherwise they wouldn't be so loyal to us, so trainable,
or such good companions. So let's all remember this when we think
about dogs and their "unwanted" behaviors.

Don't forget that there are different groups
of breeds and different
breeds within groups. Try to read about all the differences before
you make a decision. Mixed breed dogs are great, and they can be
wonderful if you get one as an adult so you already can see his temperament.
Purebred dogs can be described in general by the group to which the breed
belongs. In general, herding
dogs need a ton of exercise and training and appropriate stimulation
and should be involved in some sort of ongoing program
that provides this,
sporting
dogs need a lot of exercise and training and should probably be involved
in some sort of ongoing program as well,
working
breeds need some exercise and training, hounds
don't need much training to be good companions but can't usually be safely
let off-leash, terriers
like to bark and dig and don't need much exercise but usually enjoy trick
training and games, and toy
dogs need hardly any exercise.

In addition to exercise and training requirements
there are also grooming and feeding requirements that will differ for the
different breeds. There are also some very minimal generalizations
that can be made about dominance levels and potential dog-aggression among
breeds. Please read about these issues at the AKC's
web site. If you really want to do this right, go to some dog
shows and events and spend some time looking at breeds and talking to people.
Please think about what you want to do with your eventual dog and how you
want him to act, and then research the breeds before deciding. And
remember that there can be huge individual differences even among a certain
breed.

Once you pick your dog, you'll want him
to wind up being a good companion to you. I'll tell you what I do
around my house to keep my own dogs and my foster dogs safe and to keep
me from getting frustrated with their "unwanted" behaviors. First
of all, all the dogs are house dogs. They want to be with me, and
I'm usually in the house, so they are too. I know a lot of people
who have outside dogs. They say they can't let their dogs inside
because they are too wild. Well, of course they are wild when they
are let inside! Being inside is so exciting to them since they are
never allowed in! They can't learn how to behave in the house if
they are never let in the house. Lots of these outside dogs wind
up at the pound. People say they can't go into their backyards because
their dogs go nuts. Well, of course they go nuts! They are
happy to see their owners.

So you agree that dogs should be inside
the house with their pack? Good. But dogs don't come with the
knowledge of how to behave in the house anymore than they come with the
knowledge of how to behave in the yard. Because of this, all the
dogs in my house have their own crate. By crate I mean either plastic
airline carriers or wire
dog kennels. If I am unsure of what a dog will do if left loose
in my house, I teach him to go into his crate and to stay there until I
get home. To help the foster dogs get used to their crate I do a
variety of things.

I feed every meal in the crate. I
give a treat each and every time I put the dog into the crate. I
sometimes hide treats in the back of the crate for the dog to find while
he's just running around the house with me. I also get into the big
crates with the dogs and praise them for coming in with me. I ignore
all barking and crying and I wait until the dog has settled down before
letting him out. I don't want him to ever think I'm letting him out
because he's barking. I also make sure to always give something safe
to chew on. There are conflicting opinions about rawhide, but pressed
rawhide and ground
rawhide treats are pretty safe. I also use Kongs
stuffed with peanut butter.

This strategy works well for all the dogs
I've had. Some bark more than others and take longer to get used
to it, but they all eventually do fine. Sure, dogs who are crated
are not up walking around getting exercise. For a dog who's the only
dog in the house this isn't as big of an issue, because only-dogs don't
usually exercise themselves. They usually just sleep until their
owner gets home. This way they can sleep safe in their crates, not
getting into any trouble, until you get home. Then when you get home
you and your dog can get some exercise together. If you're not up
for exercise you can still exercise your dog easily by sitting in a chair
and throwing a ball for him to fetch, or by biking
at a slow speed with him.

While dogs living in multiple-dog homes
might actually get some exercise together when you're not home, crating
is still a good idea. They won't get exercise while you're gone,
so you'll have to provide it when you get home. The exercise you
provide and supervise is likely to be much better for them and result in
more acceptable behavior than any exercise they might provide themselves
with when they are home alone. My dogs like to "exercise" by each
taking one corner of my bedspread and pulling until it rips. Fun
for them, sure, but not so fun for me. Another consideration with
multiple dogs is that they might one day have a serious fight when home
alone. I do know one person whose small dog was killed out of the
blue one day by her larger dog. They had always gotten along.
Crating will prevent this tragedy from happening.

Do I sometimes think, "Oh, it's such a
nice day, I'll just leave the dogs outside while I go out." Yes.
Do I regret it? Usually. I have a wonderful dog run with a
cement floor and 8' fences. I don't even have to worry about my dogs
digging or jumping out (and yes, lots and lots of dogs will dig to China
if you aren't there to tell them to stop, and they will try to escape.)
Why do I usually regret leaving my dogs in my wonderful dog run?
Because they bark. Barking annoys my neighbors and it makes people
not like dogs. When people don't like dogs they create rules that
ban certain breeds or that ban dogs from certain places. Some people
even poison dogs who bark too much. Sure, that's illegal, but that's
no consolation for the owner of the dead dog.

I have one dog that barks A LOT, and I
do have one of those no-bark
collars that shocks the dog if she barks. I'm pretty sure any
dog would prefer wearing that than to be given up for nuisance barking,
but it's not even necessary to make a dog wear a no-bark collar if the
dog is kept inside, crated in a quiet room of the house away from the street.

One time I left all my dogs in the dog
run with the shock collar on the one that barks. While I didn't have
to worry about any barking annoying the neighbors, the wind blew a branch
into the run and one of my dogs chewed it up. Luckily he didn't need
to have surgery for a perforated or blocked intestine... One other
time a foster dog got the tag on his collar caught in between the slats
in the wood fence. Luckily I was home or he would have strangled.

My point is that it's usually not worth
it, for me, to leave dogs outside alone. You might find that it's
not worth it for you either. If you wind up considering giving up
your dog because of his behaviors when you aren't home, please try keeping
him crated inside before you get rid of him. Try the rest of these
suggestions as well. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Two of my dogs can usually be trusted to
be left loose in one room of the house. One of these can usually
be trusted to be left loose in the entire house. I still don't usually
do this, though, because you just never know. I have cats, and there
might be a fight one day. I have really thin glass windows and a
dog might break through the front window if somebody is at the front door.
I also have a daughter, so that means there are sometimes toys or shoes
laying around (and I'm sometimes pretty sloppy myself!) My dogs usually
never chew things up, but occasionally they will, and it's just not worth
the risk to their health (or the damage to our stuff.)

There are ways to train dogs not to chew
on the wrong things. There are ways to train dogs to be reliable
when left loose in the house. You can learn these techniques from
reading various dog training books or from
participating in the newsgroup rec.pets.dogs.behavior.
I definitely recommend that you learn as much about training as you possibly
can. But in the meantime, teach your dog to stay in his crate while
you're not home and you'll be much happier. Your dog will be safer
too, not only from what he might get into when you're not home but from
your wrath if he does something "wrong."

I try to never crate my dogs for longer
than 6 or 7 hours. I recognize that most people would need to crate
for longer than this. Most people work 8 hour days and have an hour
or so commute. If this is your situation, it definitely isn't workable
for a young puppy. Puppies need to go out frequently and can only
be expected to hold it for the number of months they are old in hours,
plus one. So a 4 month old pup can only reasonably be expected to
hold it for 5 hours, if in a crate. If loose he wouldn't even hold
it that long, but when crated he's encouraged to hold it so that he doesn't
soil his den. But this isn't the only reason why this situation wouldn't
work for a puppy; puppies shouldn't be alone that much. It is very
distressing for a pup to be alone. We know that stress affects learning,
and puppies definitely need to be learning.

This situation would be fine, though, for
an older pup, one who's already 9 or 10 months old. There are plenty
of wonderful dogs that age and older available at the pound or through
rescue groups. Many, many purebreds are available as well as mixed
breeds. There are advantages to getting a dog of this age.
You will already be able to tell about his personality, his adult size
and his adult grooming requirements. He'll housetrain faster or might
already be housetrained. And he'll be past the horrible age when
parvo and other illnesses are such a threat. Plus in most cases,
you'll be saving a life!

One solution to crating dogs for long periods
is to bring the dog with you. If you can park in the shade and fit
a kennel
into your vehicle and keep your windows
partially down, you can bring your dog with you when you go to work.
You can come out on your breaks and walk him and play with him and run
him through a few obedience exercises. You can also seek out places
where dogs are welcome; some employers let their employees bring their
dog to work, and lots of cafes have seating outside that accommodates dogs.
There are also doggy daycares, dog sitters and neighborhood teenagers who
might be looking for some extra cash for walking your dog while you are
at work.

Even if you don't crate your dogs, but
especially if you do, dogs need exercise and mental stimulation.
Some dogs need more than others, without which they will be harder to manage
and will get into more trouble around the home. My golden retriever
is happiest and best behaved when I take him to obedience
class at least once per week, practice on obedience with him every
day for a few minutes, play ball with him twice per day, bike with him
for 45 minutes every other day, and take him to the off-leash dog
park every weekend. We go to Point
Isabel in Richmond. My cocker spaniel does best with about half
of that. My greyhound needs about 1/4 of it, but still really likes
a hard run. All dogs will need some form of exercise and stimulation,
and if you don't give it to them they will try to provide it for themselves--usually
not in ways of which you'd approve.

My dogs also all sleep in my bedroom.
I have found that this really seems to enhance their feeling of being in
a pack with me. I try to have the foster dogs in the bedroom with
us too. If you don't want your dog to sleep in the bed with you,
train him to sleep beside your bed, or have a crate in your bedroom for
him to sleep in (they make great end tables.) This is especially
important for puppies; of course puppies cry when they are alone at night.
All a pup knows is that his pack apparently can't find him and he's likely
to die of exposure or be killed by another predator, so he cries and cries
and cries so his pack can find him. Help your pup avoid this unnecessary
stress by allowing him to sleep in a crate beside your bed. If you
ignore his cries when he's beside you in your "den" he'll learn to take
comfort in your presence and to sleep soundly within a week or so.

When I'm home and I have the dogs out,
the new foster dogs who don't always do what I want get leashed up to me.
This way they can be in the house with the rest of us, not in their crates,
but they can't wander off into the back of the house to pee or to chew
something up. Supervision is the key! When I have puppies or
especially destructive or untrained dogs I also use a lot of baby
gates and exercise
pen panels to block off areas of the house.

As for housebreaking,
we all usually go outside together for them to pee/poop. That way
I can make sure they all go before letting them back in, and I can praise
them and give them treats for going where I want them to--outside!
I have heard from some people this complaint: "I put my dog out to
pee, but when I bring him back in he pees in the house." There are
three things that might be happening here. The dog might not know
he's supposed to go outside, since he's never accompanied outside and praised
or rewarded for going in the right spot. Or, the dog might go when
he's first put out but then be left outside long enough that he has to
go again. When he's let back in, he has to go again. Or, maybe
he never went outside to begin with, and the owner has no way of knowing
this because he didn't go outside with the dog. So, go with your
dog outside! It's a nice excuse to get out and get some fresh air
and move around, and your dog will be better housetrained because of it.

Well, that's about it. My dogs get
supervision, confinement, exercise and training and they live in the house
with us humans. My foster dogs get these things as well, and they
are all as close to perfect as dogs can be. If you can provide these
things for a dog, you will have a very special companion who will bring
you years of joy. Please check out my page of dog-related links for
more information on training, crating, housebreaking and activities that
you can do with your dogs. And thanks for reading!